What It's About: A number of ordinary people discover that they have special abilities. Each of them has to figure out how to control, and hide, their powers, often with major disruption to their personal lives. Several discover clues that a huge explosion will devastate New York City within weeks, and the only way to prevent it is to “save the cheerleader – save the world.” Meanwhile a number of individuals and organizations are trying to track down people with abilities for starkly different reasons, including the psychopath Sylar, who can steal the powers of his victims.
Origins: Heroes was developed by Tim Kring, a veteran television writer who most recently created Crossing Jordan. Originally slated for a limited run, the show averaged a 13.5 million viewers in its first three weeks. This performance was impressive enough for NBC to ordered a full season of 22 episodes.
Popular Characters: The series follows several threads at once, often not directly integrated with each other, as each “hero” follows his or her own path. The breakout star of the show’s first season is the exuberant teleport Hiro (played by real-life special effects genius Masi Oka). A great deal of attention has been lavished as well on Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), and Niki/Jessica (Ali Larter). High-profile guest stars have also caught a lot of notice, including George Takei, Christopher Eccleston, and Malcolm McDowell.
Flavor: The tone and structure of the show is that of a modern American comic book, with heavy use of cliffhangers and emphasis on how special abilities affect personal relationships with lovers, friends, and family. This is acknowledged not only by the fonts and other graphic elements used, but by the fact that one of the characters, Isaac, was a comic book artist; his comic book, 9th Wonder predicted future events and helped guide Hiro onto his path.
Network: Heroes is shown on NBC and sometimes repeated on Sci Fi (which is owned by NBC Universal). For showtimes see When It's On.
